1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shipping box for shipping of high-value, highly sensitive objects, especially framed paintings or paintings stabilized in terms of shape in some other way, with a frame which preferably has four side walls, a wall which forms the bottom and a wall which forms the cover, so that the shipping box can be completely sealed.
This invention is explained below using a preferred application for framed paintings. However, it should always be kept in mind that the teaching of the invention can also be used for other correspondingly high-value, highly sensitive objects, especially art objects such as wood panels, altar panels, reliefs, and optionally, also statuettes.
2. Description of Related Art
To ship paintings in frames, flat boxes made of wood are used as shipping containers; the painting in the frame is placed in the box in soft cushion material, especially in foam plastic. These boxes are then shipped vertically. The painting is tightly surrounded on all sides by cushion material in order not to be damaged when vibration and impacts occur during shipping.
Published European Patent Application EP 0 636 546 A2 and corresponding U.S. Pat. 5,518,118 describe, as a special protective measure, a combination of a special shipping holder for painting frames and a separate shipping box in which the shipping holder is installed. Such a shipping box with an inside shipping holder can then, in turn, be inserted into an outer shipping box which, for its part, is lined with shock-absorbing materials, especially foam plastic material. The present invention is intended as an improvement over this known shipping box for shipping of high-value, highly sensitive objects.
In shipping boxes of the type under consideration, the use of shock-absorbing systems of various types is known, all of which are designed to expose the highly-sensitive object to as little mechanical load as possible during shipping.
Lining the interior of a shipping boxes with an insulation material, for example, an insulation plate made of compressed wood fibers, a fiber insulation panel which also regulates the humidity within the box, is known.
One special problem in shipping boxes which have been known for decades for shipping of high-value, highly sensitive objects is heat protection, especially fire protection. For a long time, applying fire protection paint to the outside of the outer shipping box was the only approach. However, even without a fire situation, the existing shipping boxes are problematical, as before, with respect to maintaining a certain temperature in the interior where the highly-sensitive object is located. It must be considered here that these shipping boxes, when being shipped between continents, are exposed to great fluctuations in outside temperatures, for example, due to waiting times at airports, etc. To date, it has not been possible to make shipping boxes of the type under consideration such that they provide a relatively constant temperature for the highly sensitive object in the interior.